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pearance and loftiness in that re
spect One being in what he secretly
dubbed "the half-baked society of a
second-rate town" appealed to his
refined taste as full perfection. This
wlis Leila. No wonderof that, for
she was the belle of the district and
fully deserved the distinction. Again,
i& shewas an only child, the family cof
fers were well filled, according to
local repute, and as Leila was court
eous to all and as Vandeventer fan
cied himself irresistible, it was soon
hinted about that the handsome pair
were just as good as engaged.
''Booming like a field gun!" was
the enthusiastic 'announcement of
Eobbins to his partner. "Never so
many people fn our store at oneH
time as last Saturday. Vandeventer
attended to the advertising and the
bands, and all that. The free dish
of ice cream and cake caught the
community."
"Yes, but how about the sales?"
queried Mr. Earrar, none too great
ly impressed by the sens'ational stunt
indicated.
"Oh, that will come later. All we
" expected was to get the crowd com
ing our way. Wait until next week
one first popular bargain sale.""
Certainly the "Dynamo-plus" inane
a great deal of noise, spread printer's
ink out everywhere and attracted a
vast throng. It appeared that Van
deventer had induced Bobbins to buy
up a great job lot of cheap brooms.
The price was Tow, but the quality of
the goods was also. Everybody
bought a broom, to discover that
.they lasted about a week, when the
rpttenvcord securing the wisps broke
and let out straws promiscuously.
f It was Vandeventer who had pur
" chased the brooms. In fact, he had
invaded the department of Robbin.
They had become gfeat chuimvThey
went to the buying marts together,
and it began to be hinted about town
that they were indulging in some
pretty lively doings while'away from
Some community restraint
Mr. Farrar was confined to the
house with an injured limb during
these business spurts, and Vande
venter took advantage of the fact to.
call frequently, avowedly solicitous
for his health, but in reality to get
closer to his daughter and heiress.
Roy saw little of Leila, though he
constantly thought of her. He had
no antagonism for his former em
plpyers, but in view -of some plans he
was carrying out Roy deemed it eth
ical merely to courteously pass the,
time of day with them as future com
petitors. For some sudden fortune had come
td Roy. An old aunt, dying, had left
him several thousand dollars and
Roy proceeded to investit in a busi
ness. He was watching and analyz
ing. Farrar & Co. and the Square.
Deal. Both,, he observed, were retro
grading as to quality and utility of
the merchandise they carried. When
one store got up a special bargain
said, their rival put forward one bet-
rter. Farrar & Co. made a vast flare
on tackjj&mmers. The Square Deal
came forward with a patent bread
knife. -The tack hammer broke very
readily and the bread knife bent, and
the deluded public began to weary of ,
these bargain delusions. (
Then one day Farrar & Co. and the
Square Deal sat up and took notice; j
Behold! In the same square an
empty store suddenly bloomed forth
into merchandise plentitude and the
freshly painted sign read: "Roy Ste-,
vens and Quality, Jnc." Neat pos-,
ters placed all about town announced
the establishment of a store where,
tno matter how low priced an article
offered mignt De, lis quanty wouiq oe -always
the best of its class, with a
distinct line drawn at the shoddy and
useless grade. v .
Roy Stevens and Quality, Inc., -went
with a boom. The "live wire"
tactics of the "Dynamo-plus" spe
cialist went stale. Mr. Farrar, con-,
servative old line merchant that he
was, fumed and fretted in his invalid- $
ism over the prestige fast departing
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